Assay systems which are both rapid and sensitive have been developed to determine the concentration of a substance in a fluid. Immunoassays depend on the binding of an antigen or hapten to a specific antibody and have been particularly useful because they give high levels of specificity and sensitivity. These assays generally employ one of the above reagents in labeled form, the labeled reagent often being referred to as the tracer. Immunoassay procedures may be carried out in solution or on a solid support and may be either heterogeneous, requiring a separation of bound tracer from free (unbounded) tracer or homogeneous in which a separation step is not required.
Radioimmunoassay (RIA) procedures use radioisotopes as labels, provide high levels of sensitivity and reproducibility, and are amenable to automation for rapid processing of large numbers of samples. However, isotopes are costly, have relatively short shelf lives, require expensive and complex equipment, and extensive safety measures for their handling and disposal must be followed.
Fluoroimmunoassay (FIA) uses fluorochromes as labels and provides direct detection of the label. However, known homogeneous FIA methods using organic fluorochromes, such as fluorescein or rhodamine derivatives, have not achieved the high sensitivity of RIA, largely because of light scattering by impurities suspended in the assay medium and by background fluorescence emission from other fluorescent materials present in the assay medium.
Enzymes have also been used as labels in immunoassay. In conventional enzyme immunoassay (EIA), an enzyme is covalently conjugated with one component of a specifically binding antigen-antibody pair, and the resulting enzyme conjugate is reacted with a substrate to produce a signal which is detected and measured. When the signal is a color change, detection with the naked eye is limited because the average individual can detect the presence of chromophores only down to about 10.sup.-5 or 10.sup.-6 M.
EIA sensitivity can often be increased by spectrophotometric techniques; however, these procedures require expensive equipment. In another approach, the sensitivity may be increased by various amplification methods. Single enzyme amplification methods have been disclosed in which ligands present at concentrations of 10.sup.-6 to 10.sup.-10 M have been detected. These methods however, have been generally unsatisfactory at ligand concentrations above 10-11M. In cascade amplification procedures, the number of detectable (generally colored) molecules is increased by use of two or more enzymes or enzyme derivatives. U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,090 to Harris discloses a cascade amplification immunoassay in which a large molecule activator, such as an enzyme or a proenzyme coupled to a ligand, activates a second enzyme which reacts with a substrate to produce a detectable signal or in turn activates a third enzyme.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,231 to Self discloses a cycling amplification enzyme immunoassay which includes primary and secondary enzyme systems and a modulator for the second enzyme system. The primary system includes a first enzyme coupled to a ligand. In a first embodiment of the Self invention, the first enzyme system acts on a modulator precursor to liberate a modulator. The modulator is a cofactor of the secondary enzyme which activates the second enzyme system to catalyze the reaction of a substrate to a detectable product. During the reaction, the modulator is converted to an inactive form, and cycling is accomplished by a third enzyme which reactivates the modulator. In a second embodiment the modulator is an inhibitor of the secondary system, and is removed by the primary enzyme system whereby the secondary system is activated to act on the substrate and thereby produce the detectable product.
Boguslaski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,751 teaches a cycling system in which an enzyme substrate or coenzyme is conjugated to one member of the specifically binding pair.
A variety of molecules has been shown to cause specific inactivation of a target enzyme. A subset of inhibitors, termed mechanism-based inhibitors, are substrates for enzymes which react with an enzyme to form a covalent bond. Mechanism-based inhibitors have been reviewed by Walsh (Tetrahedron 38, 871 (1982). Another subset of inhibitors includes molecules which act as stable transition-stable analogs. Gelb et al. have disclosed some fluoroketones as transition-state inhibitors of hydrolytic enzymes in Biochemistry 24, 1813 (1985).